valente and attilio micheletti



V. VALENTE AND A. MICHELETTL.

HAT SHAPING APPARAJZUS. APPLICATION HLED Aue.s. 1918.

1,3 1 1 1 94. Patented July 29, 1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VINCENZO VALENTE AND ATTILIO MICHELETTI, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HAT-SHAPING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 1919.

Application filed August 6, 1918. Serial No. 248,529.

- a certain new and useful Invention in flat Shaping Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in apparatus for shaping hats.

The object. of the invention is to provide hat shaping dies or forms which are simple in construction, efficient in operation, and economical of manufacture. 1

A further object of the invention is to pr vide hat shaping forms or dies which may be readily assembled and disassembled.

A further object of the invention is to provide hat shaping forms or dies with no projec'ting portions to become broken due to the parts thereof being quickly assembled and disassembled in use.

Further objects of the invention will ap pear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists substantially in'the construction, combination, location and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, as shown by the accompanying drawing and finally pointed out in the, appended claims.

Referring to the drawing Figure 1 is a top plan view of a form or die embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view thereof taken on the line 2, 2, Fig. 1, and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 3 is a similar view taken onthe line 3, 3, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the Fig. 4: is an end view of the crown die.

Fig. 5 is a plan View of the crown die.

Fig. 6 is sectional view taken on the line 6, 6, Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 is a sectional View taken on the line 7, 7, Fig. 8, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view of the brim die employed in accordance with our invention.

The same part is designated by the same reference numeral wherever the same appears throughout the several views.

In the manufacture of hats it is necessary for the manufacturer to be equipped with suflicient dies to make hats of various shapes and various sizes. Variations in shape may be either in the crown or in the brim, or both of them, and as an economical construction it is advantageous to have brim dies and crown dies of varying shapes and styles interchangeable one with the other. It is mong the special purposes of our present invention to pro-vide a standard form of crown die and brim die which will allow interchangeability forvarying shapes and sizes.-

We have shown, and will now describe our invention embodied in dies of the character employed in hydraulic hat presses wherein the hat after blocking is laid in a heated die and subjected to pressure applied to the interior of the crown of the hat, and likewise to one surface of the brim, in the usual well known manner, not involved in our invention. We wish it to be understood, however, that our invention is not limited or restricted to dies of this type. Further, while we will describe our invention as applied to a flat bottomed crown die seating on a flat surfaced die seat we do not desire to be limited to this construction as a codperating curved seat and die may equally well be employed.

Reference character 1 designates the die seat provided with a recessed portion 2 in which is formed a flat table or seat 3 to receive the lower flat end of the crown die 4:. The side walls of the die seat 1 are flanged in a plane parallel to the plane of the seat 3 as'indicated at 5. The crown die 4 is of diverging shape, that is, of smaller diameter at its bottom (that is, the top of the hat) than at the top, and is perfectly smooth throughout its exterior surface with the exception of the two ends thereof corresponding to the front and rear of the hat. The smooth contour of the crown die is shown best in Figs. 3 and 4. The ends of the crown die are provided with lugs 7 which project laterally a slight distance from the end walls of the crown die. These projections may be secured in any desired manner, but where clay dies are used, as is the common practice, it is preferable to form these projecting lugs in the molding of the die. These lugs are adapted to rest on the flanged portions 5 of the crown seat 1, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The projections 7 are grooved to form a slot 8 therein, which slot is of greater thickness at its bottom than at its top. The upper surface or rim of the crown die is flat and is adapted to receive thereon the undersurface of the brim die indicated at 9, which is provided with an opening corresponding essentially to the opening of the crown die in accordance with the style of hat being blocked. The brim die is provided with a flat outer surface and a flat inner surface adjacent the peripheral edge of the opening cut away at 10 therein, the balance of its shape being in accordance with the shape desired. At the front and rear portions of the brim dies correspond ing to the front and rear portions of the hat downwardly diverging lugs or projections 12 are provided which project into the concaved interior. or bottom surface of the brim die, as clearly shown. These lugs are adapted to slide readily in the respective slots 8 of the lugs 7. Many different means have been suggested for securing brim dies to crown dies in the art to which this invention is directed all of which have proven unsatisfactory due to the fact that they require projecting pins or devices of like nature which project laterally and which in the constant usage of the dies become broken off. By using lugs, such as lugs 12, on the brim die which may be quickly seated in the slots 8 of the projections 7 of the crown die, we overcome the difliculty of employ vention, and having shown and described a structure embodying the principles thereof, what we claim as new and useful and of our own invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with a crown die hav ing smooth converging side walls adapted to seat in a die seat, and provided with spaced projections on the 'eXterior surface of opposite ends thereof to form slots having divergently extending walls,of abrim die en circling said crown ,die and provided with downwardly extending diverging lugs on opposite ends of the interior thereof adapted to slidably make a snug fit in said slots, substantially as shown and described.

2. The combination with a crown die having smooth converging side walls and a crown shaping recess therein, of a brim die adapted to fit over said crowndie and having an opening adapted to register with the recess of said crown die, said crown die having projections formed on the exterior wall at opposite ends thereof, each of said projections being provided with a groove having divergently extending walls, said brim die being provided with projecting lugs formed on the interior wall at opposite ends thereof, adapted to fit in said grooves.

3. A crown die of the character described, brim positioning lugs extending from the front and rear ends of said die, said lugs being of diverging shape with the thickness thereof at the bottom greater than the thickness at the top, and provided with a groove running the vertical height of said lugs.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands on this first day of August A. D. 1918. V

VINCENZO VALENTE. ATTILIO MICHELETTI.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for live cents each, by addressing the (1omni'i'ssioii'er of fa tents, Washington, D. 0. 

